Beef Estofado

Ahh, the thing I love about Winter is getting out the cast iron pot or the slowcooker out and smelling a beautiful casserole fill the house with wonderful aroma.  It's so welcoming and homely.

I saw this recipe in Australian Good Taste - it's part of the 'cook the issue' promotion.  As I made it I tweaked it a bit, so if you want the original recipe, you'll need to go buy your own copy!

Now, some things I want to share:  I wasn't such a fan of the polenta topping.  Personally I would make this recipe again but use a potato/sweet potato mash on top (with the diced parmesan).  I found the polenta topping a little bitter after it had cooked.  If you love your polenta (which I normally do) give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 kg chuck or blade steak

2 onions, roughly diced

2 carrots, roughly diced/cut

4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

2 smoked chorizo sausages, roughly chopped

1 tsp dried oregano (I used fresh)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp paprika

1 tin peeled tomatoes

1 cup white wine

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup peas

for topping:

2/3 cup dried polenta

1 cup self raising flour

2 eggs

100g parmesan cheese, diced

Method

Pre-chop all your meat, chorizo, onions, garlic and carrots.  Heat up and place a tb oil in your cast iron or heavy pot.

Brown your meat, a bit at a time and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic and chorizo over a medium heat until the onions become a bit golden on the edges.

 Add paprika, cinnamon and oregano, mix through well for about a minute.

This smells SO good at this point, try not to pull out the bits of chorizo and eat it all...OK?

Add back the beef and then add carrots, tinned tomatoes, beef stock and white wine.

Pop the lid on and set it down to low for about 1 hour.  Look at THAT.

Get making your polenta (or mashed potato) top.  For polenta mix polenta and self raising flour in a bowl.  Mix 2 eggs with buttermilk, then gently add the wet to the dry ingredients

Stir through parmesan...a bit at a time.

Sprinkle peas over the top of the meat mixture....

...then dribble the polenta mix over the top.  Make sure you leave some 'holes' for the meat to vent


Bake for 30-40 minutes until polenta (or mash) is golden brown on top.

Yes, you're allowed to drool at this bit.

Now if this doesn't warm you up... I don't know what will!

Easy-as Beef 'n' Guiness Stew

This weekend I'm inviting my workmates over to my home to mark Food Revolution Day.  Most of us are foodies or at least love eating food, so gatherings with us and food are always fun ones.   What's so great about our gatherings over food is also that we represent so many backgrounds - Filipino, Malaysian, Spanish, Venezuelan, Indian, Middle Eastern - and of course me - a bit of everything.  The challenge is for all my guests to bring something that they love to eat or cook that's made from scratch.

Food Revolution Day is about getting back to basics, reinforcing or discovering where our food comes from - and raising money to go into programs that helps educate kids to make healthier choices and have that understanding about where food comes from - you all know a cause I am most passionate about!

So given this is a revolution run by and inspired by Jamie Oliver I thought I would try and spread the world and inspire you also to register a dinner party an even or go along to one..

So onto the recipe - This is adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution Cookbook 'basic stew' recipe - beef and ale variation.... I found a lovely blade roast reduced at the supermarket so used that - you can use any kind of stewing steak - blade steak, gravy beef etc.  

Ingredients:

1kg blade steak

2 large onions, diced

4 large carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

3 bay leaves

2 tb plain flour

1 420g tin peeled tomatoes

500ml guinness or stout of choice

Using a blade roast meant I could dice it consistently.. Luckily I got two - because I like doing it that way!

Good right?

Try and dice all your veges at roughly the same size, helps them cook evenly.. (carrots are from our garden, soo sweet and lovely!)

Ok, so get started and slosh some oil in the bottom of a heavy based pan or frypan with a lid.  Add your veges and cook them until the onions become transparent and the veges have 'sweated' (i.e. glisten)

Add the meat, bay leaves and flour, toss it around well.

Whilst that is cooking, add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until meat is totally browned..

Next add in your Guinness - or stout.. it will foam up a little at first and then simmer down.

Turn down the hob to it's lowest and put the lid on, or put in the oven (again with lid on) at 160 degrees c.. your choice!

Cook for about 2.5 hours - give it a bit of stir at the 1 hour and 2 hour marks...

I served mine with baked garlic and rosemary potatoes, but you could do mash or rice if you like..

Have I inspired you at all?

Maybe you could make it at your own Food Revolution Day dinner party?

If you can't go along to one or can't host one, you can still contribute - you can donate here to the Food Revolution via my dinner party!

Recipe: My totally adaptable apple crumble

As much as I'd love to whinge about the cold I'm not going to.  Because really, I quite secretly love it.  I've lived in the UK for some years and I lived in Canberra for some other years and quite frankly, it's really that  cold.  I am loving the sunshine on these cool days and I'm loving curling up on the couch with my laptop in front of trashy tv with my favourite wool blanket and maybe a few magazines to read.

The other things I love about the cool weather are casseroles, baking, and puddings, oh I love puddings.  Dessert believe it or not is not a regular occurrence at our house... but I love a pudding every now and again and my little frills go crazy for apple crumble.  I do mine with pears sometimes or even a few berries in there two if I have some.  

It isn't rocket science but I say get adventurous and add less or more of what you like - if you're using pears swap out the cinnamon for some ginger, add some dark chocolate chips with your pears too - that's absolutely delicious.    If you love pecans, add those to your crumble, just like this one I've added almonds... give it your own signature!


Ingredients:
2 cups sliced apples
50g butter
3 tb caster sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup toasted muesli
1 tb slivered almonds


Method:
Preheat your oven to 160 degrees

In a large souffle or small casserole dish, place your apples, and cut 20 grams of your butter in small diced bits and toss them through the apples.  Top with sugar and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl place your flour and add the remaining diced butter.  Rub it through roughly, with the tips of your fingers to make it like breadcrumbs.  Then add the muesli and mix it through.

Sprinkle it over the apples and then sprinkle the almonds over the top.

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes on a low shelf. Serve warm with icecream or cream.

Spanish hot chocolate

As the temperature seems to have plummeted the past couple of days I'd share with you is the recipe for Spanish Hot Chocolate.  Something to warm the cockles, and I swear to you, you will never drink hot cocoa or a store-bought hot chocolate again after having one of these.

I came accross the Spanish Hot chocolate in its' homeland when I spent one January backpacking through Spain on planes, trains, automobiles and ferries.  You can buy them at most bars and eateries.

Makes 2 cups (because you may want to share, or you may not be able to stop at one....)

Ingredients
475ml full cream milk
115gr milk chocolate (or dark if you love it - good way to 'rid yourself' of excess Easter eggs?)
1 tsp. cornflour

Method:
Pour milk and cornstarch (cornflour) into a saucepan, turn up the heat and begin to scald, (i.e. making it bubble at the edges of the saucepan) whilst using a metal whisk to ensure there's no lumps.

When it just begins to boil, it should begin to thicken, turn down the heat at this point to low-medium and add your chocolate.  Keep whisking until chocolate melts and it will resemble a bit of a thinnish custard.  Taste and add sugar if you wish to taste, dissolve sugar, then pour into coffee/tea mug.

So it's like a warm and decadent chocolate pannacotta to me.   Feel free to add a dash of Baileys or creme de menthe if you've had a rough day.... xx

Cooking for cooler weather: Slow baked lamb roast with pasta - make your roast stretch to two family meals!

Don't tell the summer-lovers but I'm quite happy it's autumn.  I'm enjoying the chill in the air in the afternoons and evenings, the new season fruit (the apples are lovely) and vegetables and I've got my oven going most days.  Love love love it.

This recipe is inspired by Anna Gare - she did a 'bloody mary lamb shoulder on rigatoni' which included 750ml of vodka!  (I'm sorry Anna but I like my vodka in a Moscow Mule or a Fruit Tingle thanks!) But what she did I did like was slow cook a whole shoulder of lamb in a tomato base with veges and then flaked the succulent tender lamb back into the sauce, making it rich and flavoursome.

I find a roast for us does one dinner and a few sandwiches but cooking it this way, it stretches to two whole filling meals for all of us.

I also didn't have any butter or cannellini beans on the day but I think they'd be a fantastic addition... so add them half an hour before the end if you like them!

Ingredients:

1.8kg shoulder lamb
1 red onion, diced

2 leeks, sliced

4 carrots, sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 cup white wine

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

800g diced tomatoes, pureed (or 1 bottle passata)

2 bay leaves

1 sprig rosemary

2 large sprigs thyme
2 tb tomato paste

Pasta (I used penne) to serve.


Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees c

Heat a flame-proof casserole/cast iron pot on the stove and heat with some oil.  Chop up your veges whilst it heats.. (these are from my garden aren't they beautiful?)

Put your lamb in the pot and brown on all sides.  Add vegetables until they sweat (i.e the leek goes a bit soft)  Add the garlic and herbs and heat for a minute or so.

Add the white wine and tomatoes/passata, Worcestershire and Tabasco.  Simmer for about 5 minutes.  Place a lid or seal tightly with aluminium foil and move to the oven for 3 hours.

Remove lamb from the pot (doesn't it look lovely?)

The lamb will be extra soft and tender.  Prise the meat off the bones using two forks and discard the bones.

Return meat to the pan and add the tomato paste.

Simmer whilst you boil the water and prepare your pasta.  Add your beans at this point too if you wish..

Serve over pasta.  It will be gobbled up in no time!

Comfort Food: Simple and Rustic Strawberry and Almond Pie

Now the cooler weather is upon us, it's time to dig out the slow cooker, rumble through the casserole, stew and soup recipes and dream about puddings.

I was inspired to make this by watching Economy Gastronomy which basically is two chefs in the UK go and help a family who waste money on groceries.  They show them how to meal plan and make some 'tumble-down' recipes (i.e. base recipes that can be adapted to make others).  It's a great show, right up my alley.

They made a version of this pie - and I couldn't find a recipe, so I just made it up!  (as you do, right?)

Good news is you don't need to make it look pretty.  It will look and taste good no matter what.  It's yummy hot or cold. The pastry isn't too overwhelming and the filling is crunchy on the outside and sweet and smooth inside.  You swear it had taken a lot longer to make than it does!  A great dessert on a cold night, impressed my hubby - he's quite a critic of a winter dessert having grown up the grandson of a bavarian professional baker!

I will definitely make this again!


Ingredients:
Pastry
125gr cold butter
125gr caster sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup custard powder

Filling
1/2 cup strawberry jam (or any jam you fancy!)
125g almond meal
100g cold butter
100g caster sugar


Method:
In a food processor, prepare your pastry - pour all ingredients and pulse until it makes a wet sand-like texture.  Empty into ziplock bag and allow to chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

Clean out your food processor and then fill with almond meal, butter and sugar.  Pulse this until also makes a wet-sand like texture.  Pour into a ziplock bag and refrigerate whilst you prepare the pastry.

Preheat oven to 160 degrees c

Take pastry out of the fridge and allow for it to soften a little - 5 minutes or so.

Spray a round cake bin (or any baking tray if you don't have one!)

Between 2 pieces of greaseproof/baking paper, place your pastry in the middle and roll out between the paper until about 3-4mm thickness

Take off top layer of paper and up-end onto your baking tin/tray

Push down and pull up the ends and mould into a little pool-type shape.  Pour your jam and spread evenly along the base.   Crumble the almond mixture and then close in the sides.

Brush with egg wash or milk if you wish, and pop in the oven for 35-45 minutes, until browned on top.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then dust with icing sugar.

Serve with cream or icecream, or just by itself, it's yummy and moist!